March 13, 2015
Mayor John Tory, Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic Development Committee and Co-Chair of the City's Toronto Music Advisory Council and Councillor Josh Colle (Ward 15 Eglinton-Lawrence), today kicked off a campaign to promote the benefits of doing business in Toronto by announcing plans for the City of Toronto’s participation in the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) on March 18 and 19. The event today also included a performance by Toronto group Great Lake Swimmers.
"Bringing more jobs to Toronto and encouraging economic growth is key to the future of our city,” said Mayor Tory. “Our strong presence at the South by Southwest Festival shows we are serious about selling Toronto to the world. Toronto’s creative sector, in particular the music, film and technology industries, employ hundreds of thousands and generate billions for our economy. We need to do more to attract that kind of talent and jobs to our city.”
Austin is at the forefront of cities in the world which have harnessed the economic and cultural benefits of the convergence of music and film and video technologies. The objective of the mission is to not only revitalize the world’s first music city alliance between Toronto and Austin, initially signed in 2013 – additionally a significant portion of the trip will also focus on sharing best practices that will help drive economic and cultural development, and job creation in Toronto.
"The music city alliance with Austin injects even more energy into our already dynamic live music sector," said Councillor Thompson. "Over the last two years this alliance, along with the creation of a Toronto Music Advisory Council and the hiring of a music sector development officer, has enabled us to draw upon Austin’s experience and best practices to raise our own game."
Highlights of the visit to Austin will include:
• Mayor Tory meeting with Austin Mayor Steve Adler to discuss and declare their commitment to the music city alliance on behalf of their respective Councils.
• A visit to the Canadian Blast BBQ, a Canadian music industry networking and performance event co-sponsored by the City of Toronto and the Austin-Toronto Music Cities Alliance and presented by the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA).
• A visit to the Capital Salute to Texas Music, hosted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott at the Governor’s Mansion.
• A meeting with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce President Mike Rollins.
• Meetings with technology industry executives.
It was also announced that the City of Toronto is sponsoring a music showcase at the SXSW festival on March 21, featuring seven artists from the Toronto area.
Mayor Tory, Councillor Thompson and Councillor Colle will be joined by Toronto music industry representatives Jeff Cohen, owner of Collective Concerts and Toronto music venues the Horseshoe Tavern and Lee's Palace; Sari Delmar, CEO and Founder of Audio Blood; Graham Henderson, President, Music Canada; and Jesse Kumagai, Vice President of Talent, Live Nation.
These representatives, who have been part of the Toronto Music Advisory Council, were selected last fall to represent Toronto on the City's Austin-Toronto Music City Alliance.
Zaib Shaikh, Film Commissioner and Director of Entertainment Industries for the City of Toronto, and Mike Tanner, Music Sector Development Officer for the City of Toronto, will also join Mayor Tory, Councillor Thompson and Councillor Colle on the mission.
This alliance business mission will continue the City of Toronto's goal of positioning itself as a leading live music tourist destination by learning from the best practices and experiences of Austin, Texas – widely regarded as the world's live music capital. This mission and the music industry initiatives in Toronto support economic and cultural development and job creation in Toronto.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit
http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms
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Media contact: Shane Gerard, Strategic Communications, 416-397-5711, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
